Enoch...it' just never came together

[MexicoHusky]

Enoch was one of the surprises of the year for me. It just never came together for him and I thought it would. There was definitely meaningful minutes for him if he could bring things together. He seems physically capable, but he may foul more than Brimah. He needs to put thing together quickly next year. All of the good centers we've had in the past were very serviceable by the end of their freshman year so Enoch is behind the pace. A major difference is, all of our good centers in the past were forced to play a lot more minutes earlier.

 

[nomar]

 

[CL82]

He's raw, but we saw flashes of what he could be. He's a tough, strong kid, but yeah, I'm not sure how much of a jump he'll take over the summer.

 

[Bryan Lord]

Thread title was very concerning, was pleasantly surprised to find out it was actually just a regular thread.

 

[6thBoroBro]

Lets just make threads bashing every player now that the season is over. Can we start bashing Mamadou for not developing, and Vance for struggling to find his range or is it too early? This thread is ridiculous, Enoch barely got minutes and showed some great flashes. He never got the ball on offense even if he had good position in the post. He defense will come around i trust Ollie to teach him that, seems to be strength for the coaching staff imo.

 

[UconnFanNVa]

I think there was just too many guys ahead of him on the depth chart. AB, Miller, Facey, and PN all ahead of him. We didnt really have alot of minutes for him to get in there and learn and make mistakes we were looking to just pull out and win games. I think he looked good at times though, but he just needs more in game minutes imo. With some room opening up in the front court i expect to see alot more of him this coming year. I hope he is a work horse too, lets hope he improve his game over the summer.

 

[Lefty2one]

I don't think he's overly raw. He has a nice touch around the rim and seems to have a decent feel for the game. He was foul prone, as most frosh bigs are, while adjusting to the speed and physicality of the game. Probably needs to get in better shape too but that's not out of the ordinary for young big men. It would be really nice for the offense if he could consistently hit that 15' jumper.

I also think he was pretty firmly behind Brimah and Phil on the defensive end and didn't bring enough on the offensive end to warrant more minutes. Brimah is obviously the shotblocker and despite Phil being a limited player he's a smart defender - a good team/help defender and the best PnR defender we had this year. He knows the rotations and rarely gets lost on D a la Facey.

That being said, I really like Enoch's potential with us. I think he'll be a great four year player who'll be a beast his junior and senior season. It will certainly nice to have some beef on the frontline again after quite a few years of stringbeans. I would also be nice to see a big man blossom and have a nice jump in impact from one season to the next - maybe he'll have that between his soph and junior year after Brimah graduates. Brimah, Facey and Nolan were largely the same player each year in the program in terms of impact. Facey has definitely gotten stronger and more explosive but it hasn't materialized into much of an impact on the floor. It would be great to see us really develop a big man again. Miss those days in the 2000s when it was happening constantly. We really have been spoiled as fans. :|

 

[uchusky32]

He was a freshman big that wasn't thought of as an one and done. Not many bigs can contribute right away. In fact, not many freshman at any position are ready to contribute big time.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

If he puts the work in he can be a contributor on offense next year. He seems to have a nice shot from 6' - 10'. This is something we will need.

Defense may take longer as A) it normally takes kids longer to learn and B) he is extremely raw (especially when compared to his offense).

 

[80shusky]

He didn't really get a lot of minutes frankly. There are some games I don't think he played at all. I think he could be good as he develops. He has size. He has touch around the basket. He doesn't get pushed around. I'm hoping he will get more minutes next year and develop into a better than serviceable piece of our front court.

 

[Chin Diesel]

I still would have liked to have seen him get more minutes this year. EVERY big man on the roster (2 seniors, 2 juniors) made numerous mind-numbing errors throughout the season. Out of those four, only Miller had any semblance of an offensive game.

Getting Enoch 8-10 minutes every game would have been nice but that's toothpaste out of the tube.

Next season I really want Enoch in there, learning on the fly if necessary. There is little gained playing Brimah and Facey against the dregs on the early schedule. Everyone should know what to expect from them. Enoch is a player who still has room for growth.

 

[Waquoit]

There is little gained playing Brimah and Facey against the dregs on the early schedule. Everyone should know what to expect from them. Enoch is a player who still has room for growth.

I think Facey still has a chance to put it all together. It's up to him. If he's busting, we need to give him some minutes.

 

[huskiesNhoos]

It makes me nervous that brimah is the starting center for next year. I hope he spends the entire summer working on offense and doesn't try to block a single shot. Otherwise our front court is back to being a black hole on offense again without miller.

Enoch has the makings of a good offensive center, but he's got to learn how to stay on the court first

 

[Drumguy]

Also I don't think the older guys trusted him. When he came in in after most of the team was on the bench with 2 fouls, there was a play where he was wide open almost under the basket having boxed his man out and Gibbs looked at him and ignored him (I think it was a mistake, should have let him try, it would have helped the perimeter offense).

That said he's just a freshman and KO had Nolan and Facey ahead of him. (imho, I would have hoped we'd worked on him more, Kansas kicked out butts inside, we needed a big body).

 

[Drumguy]

It makes me nervous that brimah is the starting center for next year. I hope he spends the entire summer working on offense and doesn't try to block a single shot. Otherwise our front court is back to being a black hole on offense again without miller.

Enoch has the makings of a good offensive center, but he's got to learn how to stay on the court first

My understanding is that Zach Brown is trying to reclass to '16. We need him.

 

[Dogdeacon]

I think Facey still has a chance to put it all together. It's up to him. If he's busting, we need to give him some minutes.

Agree, but Facey's career makes me concerned about Enoch. Facey has not made the strides one might expect over 3 years. He is essentially the same player skill-wise with more experience. Enoch has much bigger upside but absolutely need to do something very different to tap into that.

 

[WhereistheDove?]

My understanding is that Zach Brown is trying to reclass to '16. We need him.

That has pretty well been shot down by now. That was what he was going for but it didn't come together and he's going to stay in 2017.

 

[UChusky916]

We will need him big time next year. I think KO should have given him and Jalen more burn early on in the season to allow them to develop and for this team to reach their potential, but it wasn't to be.

In the USF game on 2/25, Enoch played 18 minutes, had 6 pts on 3-4 shooting and a few boards. He played great defense as well. After this game, KO said Steve will earn more minutes:

"We're going to give [Enoch] all the opportunities he can manage out there," Ollie said

"He's going to be a great player for us in the future," coach Kevin Ollie said Thursday night after using Enoch early, and often, in the Huskies' 81-51 win at South Florida. "And his future is now."
​

Curiously, that never came to be. Over the final 8 games, he averaged only 5 minutes per game, including 2 DNPs vs Cinci and Temple.

Honestly, I feel bad for Steve and thought he deserved to see the floor a lot more, especially when you consider the fact that our bigs were constantly in foul trouble. I think he's rather gifted offensively and he is the only one who brings bulk and a big frame defensively down low. Hopefully he gets his chance to prove himself big time next year because we will need him!

 

[UConnStats]

Remember that he was young even by freshman standards. He's a big part of our future, with no true center in our 2016 class. KO is very high on Enoch, and if he keeps putting in work in practice I have no doubt he can be a much bigger factor next season.

 

[pnow15]

Enoch needs to go somewhere where he can play six hours a day against guys his own size for weeks and weeks on end.
He needs to play.

 

[Chin Diesel]

We will need him big time next year. I think KO should have given him and Jalen more burn early on in the season to allow them to develop and for this team to reach their potential, but it wasn't to be.

In the USF game on 2/25, Enoch played 18 minutes, had 6 pts on 3-4 shooting and a few boards. He played great defense as well. After this game, KO said Steve will earn more minutes:

"We're going to give [Enoch] all the opportunities he can manage out there," Ollie said

"He's going to be a great player for us in the future," coach Kevin Ollie said Thursday night after using Enoch early, and often, in the Huskies' 81-51 win at South Florida. "And his future is now."
​

Curiously, that never came to be. Over the final 8 games, he averaged only 5 minutes per game, including 2 DNPs vs Cinci and Temple.

Honestly, I feel bad for Steve and thought he deserved to see the floor a lot more, especially when you consider the fact that our bigs were constantly in foul trouble. I think he's rather gifted offensively and he is the only one who brings bulk and a big frame defensively down low. Hopefully he gets his chance to prove himself big time next year because we will need him!

I read the quote in red and saw that as a challenge from KO to Enoch. Along the lines of, okay you did it once. Now let's see you do it every day in practice.

Enoch does a great job of sealing the defender and he has a soft shot.

 

[Silk31]

His biggest deficiency area was clearly his lack of court awareness, specifically on the defensive end. Unfortunately the only way to get better at that is more reps in practice and more actual game minutes.

Steve will be the unquestioned backup Center next season so we'll have to roll with him being lost on some plays but once things slow down for him mentally then watch out because he has quite the upside.

He would have been the perfect answer to turn to vs Kansas once Brimah was in foul trouble. Unfortunately he got toasted right away in the zone and KO didn't trust him anymore after that

 

[Pudge]

What do you think Josh Scott of Colorado looked like Frosh year? Guaranteed he saw more minutes.

Enoch is a crucial development project going forward. IMHO ... He's got the raw ability. His minutes & advancement was promising. And NO ... The track record of bigs at UConn was not seeing them play well by the end of their first year. Our history is all kinds of development.

If Enoch learns good solid defense, I see no reason not to have him play 15-22 minutes next year. And then he's on his way. He has more presence than Facey and a better skill set. If he can grab offensive rebounds & run inside plays for him, he could be a solid star.

 

[selles]

Remember that he was young even by freshman standards. He's a big part of our future, with no true center in our 2016 class. KO is very high on Enoch, and if he keeps putting in work in practice I have no doubt he can be a much bigger factor next season.

Enoch was exactly what most people who saw him last year said he would be - a work in progress who wouldn't be ready to make an immediate impact this year, but who would flash the potential to make a big impact down the road. I fully expect him to make a giant leap forward next year.

He's also clearly the logical successor to Miller as the main source of low post offense.

 

[jfuchs91]

This is UConn, and unless you're capable of playing strong defense, you're not going to see the floor very much. As a freshman, Enoch's defensive awareness was lacking when he was on the floor - much like most young bigs.

That being said, there was a lot to like from Enoch when he was on the floor this season. He's a big, mobile body and has shown solid hands and touch around the rim. Another offseason in the UConn program should help his development, and the best way to improve court awareness is to keep playing.

Enoch will be a productive player at UConn during his career. It just didn't "come together" this year because of UConn's emphasis on lockdown defense.